It remains to be seen whether California spending Medicaid funds on social services offsets medical spending or merely adds to total spending. The state is probably not particularly worried about the answer since it is paying only a fraction of the cost.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Monday Links – 13 July 2026
- CBO Medicaid managed care doesn’t improve outcomes.
- Henderson and Hooper on why the FDA needs to stick to safety and forget efficacy. (recommended)
- Robin Hanson: ~1/2 of prices changes due to firm announcements happen beforehand, and ~1/2 of that is due to insider trading.
- Medicare Advantage beneficiaries enrolled in plans with higher prior authorization rates were more likely to disenroll from their contract—moving either to another Medicare Advantage contract or to traditional Medicare.
- People who live closer to a pharmacy are more likely to get medications.
Should Health Insurers Count Copay Assistance Against Plan Deductibles?
An acquaintance complained to me that a drug she needed for was available for a $5 copay, but not if you’re on Medicare. She wondered why Medicare beneficiaries did not qualify for the low copay. I already knew the answer. Copay assistance is sometimes touted as a way to help people afford costly medications. However, it is also a way for drug companies to charge higher prices by blunting patients’ incentive to choose cheaper generic drugs.
Saturday Links – 11 July 2026
- Were the Dark Ages really all that dark?
- Most expensive state for health insurance (cost/median monthly household income): West Virginia. Least expensive state: Maryland.
- The bad news on single payer heath insurance.
- Why the Medicare Trustees failed to predict the cost-increasing consequences of the IRA bill.